Product verification in a messaging system

ABSTRACT

The subject technology transforms a set of features into a three-dimensional mesh, the three-dimensional mesh including a set of vertices and a set of edges, wherein the set of features are determined based on analyzing a representation of a three-dimensional barcode. The subject technology extracts verification metadata from the three-dimensional mesh, the verification metadata including information for verifying whether a physical item is an authentic item. The subject technology receives manufacturer verification information based at least in part on the verification metadata. The subject technology receives provenance information associated with the physical item based at least in part on the manufacturer verification information and the verification metadata. The subject technology causes display of a media overlay including the physical item based at least in part on the provenance information, wherein the media overlay includes an indication of authenticity of the physical item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/657,673, filed on Apr. 1, 2022, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/934,305, filed on Jul. 21, 2020, nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,295,101, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/588,524, filed on Sep. 30, 2019, nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,755,061, each of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

This application relates generally to verification, utilizing electronicdevices, of physical products. Counterfeiting, and other intellectualproperty infractions by manufacturers of illegitimate consumer productsremains a problem throughout the world, especially with the rise ofglobalized trade and commerce.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a networked environment inwhich the present disclosure may be deployed, in accordance with someexample embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a messaging clientapplication, in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a data structure asmaintained in a database, in accordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a message, in accordance withsome example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for an access-limiting process, in accordance withsome example embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example network environment forverification of products (e.g., physical items), including portions ofthe messaging system discussed above in FIG. 1 , according to someexample embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating various modules of an annotationsystem, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of the messageannotations, as described in FIG. 4 , including additional informationcorresponding to verification metadata for verification of a physicalitem (e.g., product), according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of manufacturerverification metadata stored in the manufacturer table, as described inFIG. 3 , corresponding to manufacturing information for verification ofa physical item (e.g., product), according to some embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of provenancemetadata stored in the database, as described in FIG. 6 , correspondingto information indicating authenticity of a physical item (e.g.,product), according to some embodiments.

FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B illustrate examples of a user capturing an imageof a physical item to submit for verification in the messaging system,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of providing a media overlay withinformation indicating verification or authenticity of the physical itemdescribed in FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B.

FIG. 13 is an example side profile view of a 3D barcode, according tosome example embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method to extract verificationmetadata from a physical identification indicator and obtainmanufacturer verification information based on the extractedverification metadata, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method of requesting provenanceinformation based on manufacturer verification information associatedwith a given physical item, which may be performed in conjunction withthe method in FIG. 14 , according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method of updating provenanceinformation associated with a given physical item, according to certainexample embodiments.

FIG. 17 is block diagram showing a software architecture within whichthe present disclosure may be implemented, in accordance with someexample embodiments.

FIG. 18 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine, in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions may be executed forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed, in accordance with some example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

“Signal Medium” refers to any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding, or carrying the instructions for execution by amachine and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of software or data. Theterm “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of a modulateddata signal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated datasignal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics setor changed in such a matter as to encode information in the signal. Theterms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing andmay be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

“Communication Network” refers to one or more portions of a network thatmay be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS)network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi®network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks. For example, a network or a portion of a network may include awireless or cellular network and the coupling may be a Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM) connection, or other types of cellular or wirelesscoupling. In this example, the coupling may implement any of a varietyof types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier RadioTransmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO)technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, EnhancedData rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G)networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High SpeedPacket Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by variousstandard-setting organizations, other long-range protocols, or otherdata transfer technology.

“Processor” refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (a physical circuitemulated by logic executing on an actual processor) that manipulatesdata values according to control signals (e.g., “commands”, “op codes”,“machine code”, etc.) and which produces corresponding output signalsthat are applied to operate a machine. A processor may, for example, bea Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing(RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor,a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-FrequencyIntegrated Circuit (RFIC) or any combination thereof. A processor mayfurther be a multi-core processor having two or more independentprocessors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may executeinstructions contemporaneously.

“Machine-Storage Medium” refers to a single or multiple storage devicesand/or media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/orassociated caches and servers) that store executable instructions,routines and/or data. The term shall accordingly be taken to include,but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magneticmedia, including memory internal or external to processors. Specificexamples of machine-storage media, computer-storage media and/ordevice-storage media include non-volatile memory, including by way ofexample semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM), FPGA, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andCD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks The terms “machine-storage medium,”“device-storage medium,” “computer-storage medium” mean the same thingand may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. The terms“machine-storage media,” “computer-storage media,” and “device-storagemedia” specifically exclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, andother such media, at least some of which are covered under the term“signal medium.”

“Component” refers to a device, physical entity, or logic havingboundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branch points, APIs,or other technologies that provide for the partitioning ormodularization of particular processing or control functions. Componentsmay be combined via their interfaces with other components to carry outa machine process. A component may be a packaged functional hardwareunit designed for use with other components and a part of a program thatusually performs a particular function of related functions. Componentsmay constitute either software components (e.g., code embodied on amachine-readable medium) or hardware components. A “hardware component”is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various exampleembodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computersystem, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one ormore hardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or agroup of processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an applicationor application portion) as a hardware component that operates to performcertain operations as described herein. A hardware component may also beimplemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combinationthereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicatedcircuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certainoperations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor,such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may alsoinclude programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configuredby software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardwarecomponent may include software executed by a general-purpose processoror other programmable processor. Once configured by such software,hardware components become specific machines (or specific components ofa machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and areno longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that thedecision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicatedand permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configuredcircuitry (e.g., configured by software), may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or“hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwarecomponents are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any oneinstance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises ageneral-purpose processor configured by software to become aspecial-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may beconfigured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g.,comprising different hardware components) at different times. Softwareaccordingly configures a particular processor or processors, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instanceof time and to constitute a different hardware component at a differentinstance of time. Hardware components can provide information to, andreceive information from, other hardware components.

Accordingly, the described hardware components may be regarded as beingcommunicatively coupled. Where multiple hardware components existcontemporaneously, communications may be achieved through signaltransmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) between oramong two or more of the hardware components. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware components are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware components may be achieved,for example, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware components have access. Forexample, one hardware component may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at alater time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware components may also initiate communications with inputor output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation). The various operations of example methods described hereinmay be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors 1004 orprocessor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processorsmay also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an API). The performance ofcertain of the operations may be distributed among the processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processors orprocessor-implemented components may be located in a single geographiclocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or aserver farm). In other example embodiments, the processors orprocessor-implemented components may be distributed across a number ofgeographic locations.

“Carrier Signal” refers to any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by themachine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of such instructions.Instructions may be transmitted or received over a network using atransmission medium via a network interface device.

“Computer-Readable Medium” refers to both machine-storage media andtransmission media. Thus, the terms include both storage devices/mediaand carrier waves/modulated data signals. The terms “machine-readablemedium,” “computer-readable medium” and “device-readable medium” meanthe same thing and may be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

“Client Device” refers to any machine that interfaces to acommunications network to obtain resources from one or more serversystems or other client devices. A client device may be, but is notlimited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digitalassistants (PDAs), smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks, netbooks, laptops,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any other communicationdevice that a user may use to access a network.

“Ephemeral Message” refers to a message that is accessible for atime-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be a text, an image, avideo and the like. The access time for the ephemeral message may be setby the message sender. Alternatively, the access time may be a defaultsetting or a setting specified by the recipient. Regardless of thesetting technique, the message is transitory.

With the increased use of digital images, affordability of portablecomputing devices, availability of increased capacity of digital storagemedia, and increased bandwidth and accessibility of network connections,digital images have become a part of the daily life for an increasingnumber of people. Users with a range of interests from various locationscan capture digital images of various subjects and make captured imagesavailable to others via networks, for example the Internet. Forenhancing users' experiences with digital images and providing variousfeatures, enabling computing devices to identify various objects and/orfeatures captured in a wide range of changing conditions (e.g., changesin image scales, noises, lighting, movement, or geometric distortion)can be challenging and computationally intensive. In an aspect, thesubject technology provides an improved system for recognizing objectsin captured image data for the purposes of verifying authenticity ofsuch objects as described further herein.

Counterfeiting, and other intellectual property infractions bymanufacturers of illegitimate consumer products remains a problemthroughout the world, especially with the rise of globalized trade andcommerce. The complexity, quality, and variety of products producedthrough three-dimensional printing and on-demand manufacturing continuesto increase thereby potentially exacerbating this problem. Determiningthrough visual inspection alone whether a product has been unlawfullymanufactured or whether a product has been stolen can be difficult.Further, image matching techniques, alone, used to determine whether twoimages contain the same content (e.g., for the purpose of determiningauthenticity and/or lawful possession) may have mixed results as thequality of counterfeit products and/or manufacturing processes improve.Consequently, consumers and/or manufacturers may find useful anefficient and improved system to determine whether a product isauthentic and in the possession of its rightful owner or otherauthorized seller.

Messaging systems are frequently utilized, and are increasinglyleveraged by users of mobile computing devices, in various settings, toprovide different types of functionality in a convenient manner. Asdescribed herein, the subject messaging system provides a practicalapplication that enables verification of physical items or productsbased on image data captured by a given client device (e.g., mobilecomputing device) and provided to the subject messaging system foranalysis. In particular, a given user of the subject messaging systemcan capture an image or set of images of a physical item that includes aphysical identification indicator, such as a barcode, that may identifythe physical item. The image data may include a representation of thephysical identification indicator, which as described further herein maybe a two dimensional (2D) barcode or, in some instances, a threedimensional (3D) object corresponding to a type of 3D barcode. Thesubject messaging system extracts verification metadata from thephysical identification indicator, and performs a verification processto determine the authenticity of the physical item based on theverification metadata, while leveraging the capabilities of the subjectmessage system. Upon being verified, the subject messaging system canrender a media overlay in a scene with the physical item to indicatethat the physical item is authentic, provide manufacture information,and/or provide provenance information for the physical item (e.g., ahistory of ownership and/or information indicating the authenticity of aparticular physical item).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a messaging system 100for exchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over anetwork. The messaging system 100 includes multiple instances of aclient device 102, each of which hosts a number of applicationsincluding a messaging client application 104. Each messaging clientapplication 104 is communicatively coupled to other instances of themessaging client application 104 and a messaging server system 108 via anetwork 106 (e.g., the Internet).

A messaging client application 104 is able to communicate and exchangedata with another messaging client application 104 and with themessaging server system 108 via the network 106. The data exchangedbetween messaging client application 104, and between a messaging clientapplication 104 and the messaging server system 108, includes functions(e.g., commands to invoke functions) as well as payload data (e.g.,text, audio, video or other multimedia data).

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality viathe network 106 to a particular messaging client application 104. Whilecertain functions of the messaging system 100 are described herein asbeing performed by either a messaging client application 104 or by themessaging server system 108, the location of certain functionalityeither within the messaging client application 104 or the messagingserver system 108 is a design choice. For example, it may be technicallypreferable to initially deploy certain technology and functionalitywithin the messaging server system 108, but to later migrate thistechnology and functionality to the messaging client application 104where a client device 102 has a sufficient processing capacity.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operationsthat are provided to the messaging client application 104. Suchoperations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, andprocessing data generated by the messaging client application 104. Thisdata may include, message content, client device information,geolocation information, media annotation and overlays, message contentpersistence conditions, social network information, and live eventinformation, as examples. Data exchanges within the messaging system 100are invoked and controlled through functions available via userinterfaces (UIs) of the messaging client application 104.

Turning now specifically to the messaging server system 108, anApplication Program Interface (API) server 110 is coupled to, andprovides a programmatic interface to, an application server 112. Theapplication server 112 is communicatively coupled to a database server118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which is stored dataassociated with messages processed by the application server 112.

The Application Program Interface (API) server 110 receives andtransmits message data (e.g., commands and message payloads) between theclient device 102 and the application server 112. Specifically, theApplication Program Interface (API) server 110 provides a set ofinterfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that can be called or queriedby the messaging client application 104 in order to invoke functionalityof the application server 112. The Application Program Interface (API)server 110 exposes various functions supported by the application server112, including account registration, login functionality, the sending ofmessages, via the application server 112, from a particular messagingclient application 104 to another messaging client application 104, thesending of media files (e.g., images or video) from a messaging clientapplication 104 to the messaging server application 114, and forpossible access by another messaging client application 104, the settingof a collection of media data (e.g., story), the retrieval of a list offriends of a user of a client device 102, the retrieval of suchcollections, the retrieval of messages and content, the adding anddeletion of friends to a social graph, the location of friends within asocial graph, and opening an application event (e.g., relating to themessaging client application 104).

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including a messaging server application 114, an imageprocessing system 116, a social network system 122, and a productverification system 124. The messaging server application 114 implementsa number of message processing technologies and functions, particularlyrelated to the aggregation and other processing of content (e.g.,textual and multimedia content) included in messages received frommultiple instances of the messaging client application 104. As will bedescribed in further detail, the text and media content from multiplesources may be aggregated into collections of content (e.g., calledstories or galleries). These collections are then made available, by themessaging server application 114, to the messaging client application104. Other processor and memory intensive processing of data may also beperformed server-side by the messaging server application 114, in viewof the hardware requirements for such processing.

The application server 112 also includes an image processing system 116that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations,typically with respect to images or video received within the payload ofa message at the messaging server application 114.

The social network system 122 supports various social networkingfunctions services, and makes these functions and services available tothe messaging server application 114. To this end, the social networksystem 122 maintains and accesses an entity graph 304 (as shown in FIG.3 ) within the database 120. Examples of functions and servicessupported by the social network system 122 include the identification ofother users of the messaging system 100 with which a particular user hasrelationships or is “following”, and also the identification of otherentities and interests of a particular user.

The application server 112 is communicatively coupled to a databaseserver 118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which isstored data associated with messages processed by the messaging serverapplication 114.

The product verification system 124 performs operations for verifyingproducts based at least on image data of such products provided by themessaging client application 104. In an embodiment, the productverification system 124 may store information (e.g., metadata) relatedto manufacturers of such products, and information utilized forverifying the authenticity of the products, in the database 120. Theproduct verification system 124 is discussed in further detail withrespect to FIG. 6 below, and examples of information for productverification are described in FIG. 8 , FIG. 9 , and FIG. 10 below.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding themessaging system 100, according to example embodiments. Specifically,the messaging system 100 is shown to comprise the messaging clientapplication 104 and the application server 112, which in turn embody anumber of some subsystems, namely an ephemeral timer system 202, acollection management system 204 and an annotation system 206.

The ephemeral timer system 202 is responsible for enforcing thetemporary access to content permitted by the messaging clientapplication 104 and the messaging server application 114. To this end,the ephemeral timer system 202 incorporates a number of timers that,based on duration and display parameters associated with a message, orcollection of messages (e.g., a story), selectively display and enableaccess to messages and associated content via the messaging clientapplication 104. Further details regarding the operation of theephemeral timer system 202 are provided below.

The collection management system 204 is responsible for managingcollections of media (e.g., collections of text, image video and audiodata). In some examples, a collection of content (e.g., messages,including images, video, text and audio) may be organized into an “eventgallery” or an “event story.” Such a collection may be made availablefor a specified time period, such as the duration of an event to whichthe content relates. For example, content relating to a music concertmay be made available as a “story” for the duration of that musicconcert. The collection management system 204 may also be responsiblefor publishing an icon that provides notification of the existence of aparticular collection to the user interface of the messaging clientapplication 104.

The collection management system 204 furthermore includes a curationinterface 208 that allows a collection manager to manage and curate aparticular collection of content. For example, the curation interface208 enables an event organizer to curate a collection of contentrelating to a specific event (e.g., delete inappropriate content orredundant messages). Additionally, the collection management system 204employs machine vision (or image recognition technology) and contentrules to automatically curate a content collection. In certainembodiments, compensation may be paid to a user for inclusion ofuser-generated content into a collection. In such cases, the curationinterface 208 operates to automatically make payments to such users forthe use of their content.

The annotation system 206 provides various functions that enable a userto annotate or otherwise modify or edit media content associated with amessage. For example, the annotation system 206 provides functionsrelated to the generation and publishing of media overlays for messagesprocessed by the messaging system 100. The annotation system 206operatively supplies a media overlay or supplementation (e.g., an imagefilter) to the messaging client application 104 based on a geolocationof the client device 102. In another example, the annotation system 206operatively supplies a media overlay to the messaging client application104 based on other information, such as social network information ofthe user of the client device 102. A media overlay may include audio andvisual content and visual effects. Examples of audio and visual contentinclude pictures, texts, logos, animations, and sound effects. Anexample of a visual effect includes color overlaying. The audio andvisual content or the visual effects can be applied to a media contentitem (e.g., a photo) at the client device 102. For example, the mediaoverlay may include text that can be overlaid on top of a photographtaken by the client device 102. In another example, the media overlayincludes an identification of a location overlay (e.g., Venice beach), aname of a live event, or a name of a merchant overlay (e.g., BeachCoffee House). In another example, the annotation system 206 uses thegeolocation of the client device 102 to identify a media overlay thatincludes the name of a merchant at the geolocation of the client device102. The media overlay may include other indicia associated with themerchant. The media overlays may be stored in the database 120 andaccessed through the database server 118.

In one example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides auser-based publication platform that enables users to select ageolocation on a map, and upload content associated with the selectedgeolocation. The user may also specify circumstances under which aparticular media overlay should be offered to other users. Theannotation system 206 generates a media overlay that includes theuploaded content and associates the uploaded content with the selectedgeolocation.

In another example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides amerchant-based publication platform that enables merchants to select aparticular media overlay associated with a geolocation via a biddingprocess. For example, the annotation system 206 associates the mediaoverlay of a highest bidding merchant with a corresponding geolocationfor a predefined amount of time.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating data structures 300 which maybe stored in the database 120 of the messaging server system 108,according to certain example embodiments. While the content of thedatabase 120 is shown to comprise a number of tables, it will beappreciated that the data could be stored in other types of datastructures (e.g., as an object-oriented database).

The database 120 includes message data stored within a message table314. The entity table 302 stores entity data, including an entity graph304. Entities for which records are maintained within the entity table302 may include individuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects,places, events, etc. Regardless of type, any entity regarding which themessaging server system 108 stores data may be a recognized entity. Eachentity is provided with a unique identifier, as well as an entity typeidentifier (not shown).

The entity graph 304 furthermore stores information regardingrelationships and associations between entities. Such relationships maybe social, professional (e.g., work at a common corporation ororganization) interested-based or activity-based, merely for example.

The database 120 also stores annotation data, in the example form offilters, in an annotation table 312. Filters for which data is storedwithin the annotation table 312 are associated with and applied tovideos (for which data is stored in a video table 310) and/or images(for which data is stored in an image table 308). Filters, in oneexample, are overlays that are displayed as overlaid on an image orvideo during presentation to a recipient user. Filters may be of variestypes, including user-selected filters from a gallery of filterspresented to a sending user by the messaging client application 104 whenthe sending user is composing a message. Other types of filters includegeolocation filters (also known as geo-filters) which may be presentedto a sending user based on geographic location. For example, geolocationfilters specific to a neighborhood or special location may be presentedwithin a user interface by the messaging client application 104, basedon geolocation information determined by a GPS unit of the client device102. Another type of filer is a data filer, which may be selectivelypresented to a sending user by the messaging client application 104,based on other inputs or information gathered by the client device 102during the message creation process. Example of data filters includecurrent temperature at a specific location, a current speed at which asending user is traveling, battery life for a client device 102, or thecurrent time.

Other annotation data that may be stored within the image table 308 isso-called “lens” data. A “lens” may be a real-time special effect andsound that may be added to an image or a video.

As mentioned above, the video table 310 stores video data which, in oneembodiment, is associated with messages for which records are maintainedwithin the message table 314. Similarly, the image table 308 storesimage data associated with messages for which message data is stored inthe entity table 302. The entity table 302 may associate variousannotations from the annotation table 312 with various images and videosstored in the image table 308 and the video table 310.

A story table 306 stores data regarding collections of messages andassociated image, video, or audio data, which are compiled into acollection (e.g., a story or a gallery). The creation of a particularcollection may be initiated by a particular user (e.g., each user forwhich a record is maintained in the entity table 302). A user may createa “personal story” in the form of a collection of content that has beencreated and sent/broadcast by that user. To this end, the user interfaceof the messaging client application 104 may include an icon that isuser-selectable to enable a sending user to add specific content to hisor her personal story.

A collection may also constitute a “live story,” which is a collectionof content from multiple users that is created manually, automatically,or using a combination of manual and automatic techniques. For example,a “live story” may constitute a curated stream of user-submitted contentfrom varies locations and events. Users whose client devices havelocation services enabled and are at a common location event at aparticular time may, for example, be presented with an option, via auser interface of the messaging client application 104, to contributecontent to a particular live story. The live story may be identified tothe user by the messaging client application 104, based on his or herlocation. The end result is a “live story” told from a communityperspective.

A further type of content collection is known as a “location story”,which enables a user whose client device 102 is located within aspecific geographic location (e.g., on a college or university campus)to contribute to a particular collection. In some embodiments, acontribution to a location story may require a second degree ofauthentication to verify that the end user belongs to a specificorganization or other entity (e.g., is a student on the universitycampus).

The database 120 also stores manufacturer data of products in amanufacturer table 316, which enables the client device 102 to performverification operations to verify a product (e.g., physical item) basedon image data captured by the client device 102. In an example, themanufacturer table 316 includes a directory (e.g., listing) ofrespective manufacturers and their associated manufacturer identifiers,which can be compared against verification metadata provided by theclient device 102. Further, the manufacturer table 316 can also includeinformation for a verification address (e.g., Uniform Resource Locator(URL)) and verification parameters which can be provided to the clientdevice 102 to use as part of completing a verification process of theproduct. As described further herein, the client device 102 can performa set of image, text, and/or object recognition processes to extractverification metadata from captured image data in which the image datacan include a representation of a physical item corresponding to aproduct and a physical identification indicator (e.g., a barcode)corresponding to the physical item. Such verification metadata, asdescribed further below, include a manufacturer identifier, a productidentifier, and/or a item unique identifier, which can be utilized aspart of a verification process for a given physical item.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message 400,according to some embodiments, generated by a messaging clientapplication 104 for communication to a further messaging clientapplication 104 or the messaging server application 114. The content ofa particular message 400 is used to populate the message table 314stored within the database 120, accessible by the messaging serverapplication 114. Similarly, the content of a message 400 is stored inmemory as “in-transit” or “in-flight” data of the client device 102 orthe application server 112. The message 400 is shown to include thefollowing components:

-   -   A message identifier 402: a unique identifier that identifies        the message 400.    -   A message text payload 404: text, to be generated by a user via        a user interface of the client device 102 and that is included        in the message 400.    -   A message image payload 406: image data, captured by a camera        component of a client device 102 or retrieved from a memory        component of a client device 102, and that is included in the        message 400.    -   A message video payload 408: video data, captured by a camera        component or retrieved from a memory component of the client        device 102 and that is included in the message 400.    -   A message audio payload 410: audio data, captured by a        microphone or retrieved from a memory component of the client        device 102, and that is included in the message 400.    -   A message annotations 412: annotation data (e.g., filters,        stickers or other enhancements) that represents annotations to        be applied to message image payload 406, message video payload        408, or message audio payload 410 of the message 400.    -   A message duration parameter 414: parameter value indicating, in        seconds, the amount of time for which content of the message        (e.g., the message image payload 406, message video payload 408,        message audio payload 410) is to be presented or made accessible        to a user via the messaging client application 104.    -   A message geolocation parameter 416: geolocation data (e.g.,        latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates) associated with the        content payload of the message. Multiple message geolocation        parameter 416 values may be included in the payload, each of        these parameter values being associated with respect to content        items included in the content (e.g., a specific image into        within the message image payload 406, or a specific video in the        message video payload 408).    -   A message story identifier 418: identifier values identifying        one or more content collections (e.g., “stories”) with which a        particular content item in the message image payload 406 of the        message 400 is associated. For example, multiple images within        the message image payload 406 may each be associated with        multiple content collections using identifier values.    -   A message tag 420: each message 400 may be tagged with multiple        tags, each of which is indicative of the subject matter of        content included in the message payload. For example, where a        particular image included in the message image payload 406        depicts an animal (e.g., a lion), a tag value may be included        within the message tag 420 that is indicative of the relevant        animal. Tag values may be generated manually, based on user        input, or may be automatically generated using, for example,        image recognition.    -   A message sender identifier 422: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of a user of the client device 102 on        which the message 400 was generated and from which the message        400 was sent    -   A message receiver identifier 424: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of a user of the client device 102 to        which the message 400 is addressed.

The contents (e.g., values) of the various components of message 400 maybe pointers to locations in tables within which content data values arestored. For example, an image value in the message image payload 406 maybe a pointer to (or address of) a location within an image table 308.Similarly, values within the message video payload 408 may point to datastored within a video table 310, values stored within the messageannotations 412 may point to data stored in an annotation table 312,values stored within the message story identifier 418 may point to datastored in a story table 306, and values stored within the message senderidentifier 422 and the message receiver identifier 424 may point to userrecords stored within an entity table 302.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an access-limiting process500, in terms of which access to content (e.g., an ephemeral message502, and associated multimedia payload of data) or a content collection(e.g., an ephemeral message group 504) may be time-limited (e.g., madeephemeral).

An ephemeral message 502 is shown to be associated with a messageduration parameter 506, the value of which determines an amount of timethat the ephemeral message 502 will be displayed to a receiving user ofthe ephemeral message 502 by the messaging client application 104. Inone embodiment, an ephemeral message 502 is viewable by a receiving userfor up to a maximum of 10 seconds, depending on the amount of time thatthe sending user specifies using the message duration parameter 506.

The message duration parameter 506 and the message receiver identifier424 are shown to be inputs to a message timer 512, which is responsiblefor determining the amount of time that the ephemeral message 502 isshown to a particular receiving user identified by the message receiveridentifier 424. In particular, the ephemeral message 502 will only beshown to the relevant receiving user for a time period determined by thevalue of the message duration parameter 506. The message timer 512 isshown to provide output to a more generalized implementation of theephemeral timer system 202, which is responsible for the overall timingof display of content (e.g., an ephemeral message 502) to a receivinguser.

The ephemeral message 502 is shown in FIG. 5 to be included within anephemeral message group 504 (e.g., a collection of messages in apersonal story, or an event story). The ephemeral message group 504 hasan associated group duration parameter 508, a value of which determinesa time-duration for which the ephemeral message group 504 is presentedand accessible to users of the messaging system 100. The group durationparameter 508, for example, may be the duration of a music concert,where the ephemeral message group 504 is a collection of contentpertaining to that concert. Alternatively, a user (either the owninguser or a curator user) may specify the value for the group durationparameter 508 when performing the setup and creation of the ephemeralmessage group 504.

Additionally, each ephemeral message 502 within the ephemeral messagegroup 504 has an associated group participation parameter 510, a valueof which determines the duration of time for which the ephemeral message502 will be accessible within the context of the ephemeral message group504. Accordingly, a particular ephemeral message group 504 may “expire”and become inaccessible within the context of the ephemeral messagegroup 504, prior to the ephemeral message group 504 itself expiring interms of the group duration parameter 508. The group duration parameter508, group participation parameter 510, and message receiver identifier424 each provide input to a group timer 514, which operationallydetermines, firstly, whether a particular ephemeral message 502 of theephemeral message group 504 will be displayed to a particular receivinguser and, if so, for how long. Note that the ephemeral message group 504is also aware of the identity of the particular receiving user as aresult of the message receiver identifier 424.

Accordingly, the group timer 514 operationally controls the overalllifespan of an associated ephemeral message group 504, as well as anindividual ephemeral message 502 included in the ephemeral message group504. In one embodiment, each and every ephemeral message 502 within theephemeral message group 504 remains viewable and accessible for atime-period specified by the group duration parameter 508. In a furtherembodiment, a certain ephemeral message 502 may expire, within thecontext of ephemeral message group 504, based on a group participationparameter 510. Note that a message duration parameter 506 may stilldetermine the duration of time for which a particular ephemeral message502 is displayed to a receiving user, even within the context of theephemeral message group 504. Accordingly, the message duration parameter506 determines the duration of time that a particular ephemeral message502 is displayed to a receiving user, regardless of whether thereceiving user is viewing that ephemeral message 502 inside or outsidethe context of an ephemeral message group 504.

The ephemeral timer system 202 may furthermore operationally remove aparticular ephemeral message 502 from the ephemeral message group 504based on a determination that it has exceeded an associated groupparticipation parameter 510. For example, when a sending user hasestablished a group participation parameter 510 of 24 hours fromposting, the ephemeral timer system 202 will remove the relevantephemeral message 502 from the ephemeral message group 504 after thespecified 24 hours. The ephemeral timer system 202 also operates toremove an ephemeral message group 504 either when the groupparticipation parameter 510 for each and every ephemeral message 502within the ephemeral message group 504 has expired, or when theephemeral message group 504 itself has expired in terms of the groupduration parameter 508.

In certain use cases, a creator of a particular ephemeral message group504 may specify an indefinite group duration parameter 508. In thiscase, the expiration of the group participation parameter 510 for thelast remaining ephemeral message 502 within the ephemeral message group504 will determine when the ephemeral message group 504 itself expires.In this case, a new ephemeral message 502, added to the ephemeralmessage group 504, with a new group participation parameter 510,effectively extends the life of an ephemeral message group 504 to equalthe value of the group participation parameter 510.

Responsive to the ephemeral timer system 202 determining that anephemeral message group 504 has expired (e.g., is no longer accessible),the ephemeral timer system 202 communicates with the messaging system100 (and, for example, specifically the messaging client application104) to cause an indicium (e.g., an icon) associated with the relevantephemeral message group 504 to no longer be displayed within a userinterface of the messaging client application 104. Similarly, when theephemeral timer system 202 determines that the message durationparameter 506 for a particular ephemeral message 502 has expired, theephemeral timer system 202 causes the messaging client application 104to no longer display an indicium (e.g., an icon or textualidentification) associated with the ephemeral message 502.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example network environment 600 forverification of products (e.g., physical items), including portions ofthe messaging system 100 discussed above in FIG. 1 , according to someexample embodiments. Not all of the depicted components may be used inall implementations, however, and one or more implementations mayinclude additional or different components than those shown in thefigure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may bemade without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as setforth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewercomponents may be provided.

For explanatory purposes, the network environment 600 is illustrated inFIG. 6 as including the client device 102, the messaging server system108, and a manufacturer provenance server system 602; however, thenetwork environment 600 may include any number of electronic devices andany number of servers or a data center including multiple servers insome embodiments.

In one or more implementations, the network 106 may be an interconnectednetwork of electronic devices that may include, or may becommunicatively coupled to, the Internet. The network 106 maycommunicatively (directly or indirectly) couple, for example, the clientdevice 102 with the messaging server system 108 and/or the manufacturerprovenance server system 602.

The messaging server system 108 and/or the manufacturer provenanceserver system 602 may be part of a network of computers or a group ofservers, such as in a cloud computing or data center implementation. Themessaging server system 108 and/or the manufacturer provenance serversystem 602 store or generate information that are requested and/orreceived by the client device 102 as described below and further in FIG.9 and FIG. 10 below.

As illustrated, the client device 102, which hosts a number ofapplications including the messaging client application 104 as describedbefore in FIG. 1 , is communicatively coupled to other instances of themessaging client application 104 (e.g., on another client device 102),and the messaging server system 108 via the network 106. The messagingserver system 108 includes the product verification system 124 asdescribed above in FIG. 1 .

In an example embodiment, the client device 102 may provide image dataincluding a representation of a physical item (e.g., captured using acamera provided by the client device 102) including an identificationindicator (e.g., a physical barcode, etc.) of the physical item, andanalyze the image data to extract information (e.g., verificationmetadata from the barcode) from the identification indicator. Theextracted information may include a manufacturer identifier (ID), aproduct ID, and/or an item unique ID (e.g., unique serial number, etc.).Further, in an embodiment, the identification indicator is in the formof a 3D object (e.g., 3D barcode) located within the proximity orincluded with the physical item as described in more detail in FIG. 13below.

The product verification system 124 can receive the aforementionedextracted information from the client device 102, and determineadditional manufacturer information (e.g., manufacturer verificationmetadata) to validate the authenticity of the physical item. As referredto herein, authenticity of a given physical item may be verified basedat least in part on a set of signals (e.g., provided by the clientdevice 102 and/or the product verification system 124) includinginformation that respective manufacturers have maintained regardingindividual products including, but not limited to, barcodes, UniversalProduct Code (UPC) codes, QR codes, Snapcodes™, unique individual serialnumbers, stock keeping unit numbers, vehicle identification numbers,European article numbers (EAN), international standard book numbers(ISBN), manufacturer part numbers (MPN), global trade item number(GTIN), Japanese article numbers (JAN), watermarks, and the like. Othersignals that may be utilized can include location information (e.g., GPScoordinates to determine a particular reseller or retail, or geographicregion corresponding to the physical item), network information (e.g.,Wi-Fi network), etc. Further, it is appreciated that the physical itemcan include a respective physical identification indicator(s) based onone or more of the aforementioned standards or formats for identifyingindividual products.

The product verification system 124 can receive at least themanufacturer ID from the client device 102, and perform a lookup,search, or select operation on the manufacturer table 316 to retrievethe manufacturer verification metadata from the database 120. In anexample embodiment, such manufacturer verification metadata includes averification link (e.g., verification URL or “V-URL”), and a set ofverification parameters (e.g., “V-PARAM”). The product verificationsystem 124 provides the client device 102 with the aforementionedmanufacturer verification metadata.

Based at least in part on the received manufacturer verificationmetadata, the client device 102 can send a request message to arespective server for verifying the physical item. The request messagemay include, for example, the product ID and/or the item unique ID. Inan embodiment, such a server is, as further illustrated in the networkenvironment 600, the manufacturer provenance server system 602. Themanufacturer provenance server system 602, in an embodiment, isimplemented as an electronic-based service that can be accessed by agiven client electronic device, such as the client device 102, based ona request message including the verification URL and the set ofverification parameters in a particular message protocol. In response tothe request message, the manufacturer provenance server system 602 canverify the physical item based on the information included in therequest message. In an example, the manufacturer provenance serversystem 602 compares the received verification parameters to data in adatabase 620 that is utilized to verify the authenticity of the physicalitem. In an embodiment, metadata associated with the physical item isstored in the database 620, which serves for verification of thephysical item based on the verification parameters from the requestmessage. Different types of verification schemes can be utilizedincluding determining whether the verification parameters match with thecorresponding metadata for the physical item, employing hashing and/orencryption/decryption techniques on the verification parameters and thenensuring consistency with the metadata in the database 620, etc.

In an example embodiment, the manufacturer provenance server system 602determines whether to provide an endorsement for the physical item. Asreferred to herein, an “endorsement” provides an indication of alikelihood that the physical item is authentic, and can be in a binaryform or encoding (e.g., “Yes”, “No”, “True”, “False”, “1”, “0”). Inanother embodiment, an endorsement can be provided as a score valueindicating the likelihood that the physical item is authentic (e.g., avalue between 0 to 10, a value between 0 to 100, etc.). It isappreciated that other forms of indicating a likelihood of authenticityfor a physical item may be provided by the manufacturer provenanceserver system 602 (e.g., a grading system such as A through F). Asmentioned before, the manufacturer provenance server system 602 candetermine the likelihood that the physical item is authentic based on aset of signals provided in the request message from the client device102. Moreover, it is appreciated that different weights may be assignedto each of the respective signals in order to provide the endorsementscore. For example, a lesser weight can be assigned to a signalcorresponding to a location of the physical item, where the location ofthe physical item is greater than a predetermined threshold distancefrom a given location (e.g., an original point of manufacturer) as thisindicates a chance the physical item was stolen, or outside of a regionthat the same types of physical items (e.g., same product model) aresold. Based on the lesser weight, the final score for the endorsementmay be reduced.

In response to the request message, the manufacturer provenance serversystem 602 can provide a response message to the client device 102,which includes, in an example embodiment, information indicating anendorsement, a manufacturer augmented reality (AR) URL (e.g., mediacontent of how the physical item was manufactured), and provenanceinformation such a history or historical record of ownership. Suchprovenance information includes, in an example embodiment, a list oflocations that the physical item has been based on prior providedinformation, and a list of scans (e.g., other instances of image captureof the physical item) by other users. It is appreciated that theprovenance information may not include a complete historical record ofwhere the physical item has been due to imperfect ownership recordsand/or imperfect previously recorded location information (e.g., whereinformation was failed to be provided due to inaction and/or privacyconsiderations).

Based on the information in the received response message, the clientdevice 102 can provide for display (e.g., rendering on a UI of themessaging client application 104) a set of media overlay effects andgraphical elements, including indications of an endorsement of thephysical item, provenance information, etc. Examples are discussed inmore detail in the discussion of FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, and FIG. 12 below.

Further, in an example embodiment, the database 620 is implemented inthe form of a blockchain, which enables verification of entries in thedatabase 620 through a distributed and decentralized ledgerimplementation according to a respective blockchain protocol andconsensus algorithm (e.g., proof of work, proof of stake, and the like).In an example blockchain implementation of a database, respectiveentries in the database (e.g., respective rows) correspond to respectiveblocks of a blockchain that can be linked to each other using linkedlists and/or pointers.

In an embodiment, the client device 102 as described above in FIG. 6 maybe, for example, a portable computing device such as a laptop computer,a smartphone, a peripheral device (e.g., a digital camera), a tabletdevice, a wearable device such as a watch, a band, a headset, and thelike, or any other appropriate device. Each of the aforementioned devicemay also support touchscreen gestures (e.g., through use of atouchscreen) or non-touch gestures (e.g., through use of a gyroscope ormotion sensor). In one or more implementations, the client device 102may support touchscreen-like gestures, such as in a virtual reality oraugmented reality environment. In FIG. 6 , by way of example, the clientdevice 102 is depicted as a mobile electronic device with a touchscreen.In one or more implementations, the client device 102 may be, and/or mayinclude all or part of, a machine as described below in FIG. 18 . Theclient device 102 may include components that perform operations forverification of physical items as described in further detail in FIG. 7below.

In an embodiment, the client device 102 is a head mounted portablesystem, wearable by a user, that includes a system capable of capturingimages, audio, videos, multimedia content, and the like, based on auser's surrounding physical environment.

Further, in an embodiment, such a head mounted portable system mayinclude a display system that is capable of presenting a visualizationof a mixed reality environment to the user (e.g., head mounted displaydevice) where real and virtual environments are combined in varyingdegrees to facilitate interactions from a user in a real time manner,including augmented reality that primarily includes real elements and iscloser to a real environment than a virtual environment (e.g., withoutreal elements). In this example, a display system of the client device102 provides a stereoscopic presentation of the mixed realityenvironment, enabling a three-dimensional visual display of a renderingof a particular scene, to the user. The client device 102 may includevarious sensors including, but not limited to, cameras, image sensors,touch sensors, microphones, inertial measurement units (IMU), heartrate, temperature, among other types of sensors. Moreover, the clientdevice 102 may include hardware components that can receive user inputsuch as hardware buttons, switches, sliders, etc.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram 700 illustrating various modules of anannotation system 206, according to certain example embodiments. Theannotation system 206 is shown as including an image data receivingmodule 702, a product verification module 704, and a rendering module706. The various modules of the annotation system 206 are configured tocommunicate with each other (e.g., via a bus, shared memory, or aswitch). Any one or more of these modules may be implemented using oneor more computer processors 710 (e.g., by configuring such one or morecomputer processors to perform functions described for that module) andhence may include one or more of the computer processors 710 (e.g., aset of processors provided by the client device 102).

Any one or more of the modules described may be implemented usinghardware alone (e.g., one or more of the computer processors 710 of amachine (e.g., machine 1800) or a combination of hardware and software.For example, any described module of the annotation system 206 mayphysically include an arrangement of one or more of the computerprocessors 710 (e.g., a subset of or among the one or more computerprocessors of the machine (e.g., machine 1800) configured to perform theoperations described herein for that module. As another example, anymodule of the annotation system 206 may include software, hardware, orboth, that configure an arrangement of one or more computer processors710 (e.g., among the one or more computer processors of the machine(e.g., machine 1800) to perform the operations described herein for thatmodule. Accordingly, different modules of the annotation system 206 mayinclude and configure different arrangements of such computer processors710 or a single arrangement of such computer processors 710 at differentpoints in time. Moreover, any two or more modules of the annotationsystem 206 may be combined into a single module, and the functionsdescribed herein for a single module may be subdivided among multiplemodules. Furthermore, according to various example embodiments, modulesdescribed herein as being implemented within a single machine, database,or device may be distributed across multiple machines, databases, ordevices.

The image data receiving module 702 receives images captured by a clientdevice 102. For example, an image is a photograph captured by an opticalsensor (e.g., camera) of the client device 102. An image includes one ormore real-world features, such a physical object(s) detected in theimage. In some embodiments, an image includes metadata describing theimage.

The product verification module 704 utilizes different object detectionprocesses to detect objects in the image, such as a physical itemcorresponding to a product that a user wants to verify its authenticity,and a physical indicator of identification (e.g., barcode) correspondingto the physical item. In an example, imaging processing algorithms andrecognition techniques may be used to detect objects of the image. Forexample, optical character recognition (OCR) can be used as a primaryimage analysis technique or to enhance other processes. Features (e.g.,shape, size, color and text) of the image can be extracted. In someembodiments, image processing processes may include sub-processes suchas, for example, thresholding (converting a grayscale image to black andwhite, or using separation based on a grayscale value), segmentation,blob extraction, pattern recognition, barcode and data matrix codereading, gauging (measuring object dimensions), positioning, edgedetection, color analysis, filtering (e.g. morphological filtering) andtemplate matching (finding, matching, and/or counting specificpatterns).

Further, the product verification module 704, in an example embodiment,utilizes a set of classifiers that classify an image received from acamera of a mobile computing device into one or more classes. In anembodiment, a first type of image classifier determines whether theimage includes a physical identification indicator containing text,barcode pattern(s), and/or QR code pattern(s), and the like. Moreover, asecond type of image classifier determines whether the image includes a3D object corresponding to a physical identification indicator (e.g., 3Dbarcode) for identifying a product, an example of which is furtherdiscussed in FIG. 13 . Various techniques (e.g., OCR and other geometricrecognition processes) may also be used as the primary or secondaryimage analysis technique to verify one or more potential objects of theimage (e.g., the physical item corresponding to the product, and thephysical identification indicator of the physical item).

Based at least in part on one of the aforementioned classifications, theproduct verification module 704 can perform operations (e.g., a process)for extracting verification metadata from a recognized objectcorresponding to a physical identification indicator of the physicalitem in the image, and verifying the physical item, which is describedfurther in FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 . Further, as part of the verificationprocess, the product verification module 704 may receive manufacturerverification information from the product verification system 124, andprovenance information from the manufacturer provenance server system602 as described herein.

The rendering module 706 performs rendering of content for display bythe messaging client application 104 based on data provided by at leastone of the aforementioned modules. For example, the rendering module 706performs various operations based on algorithms or techniques thatcorrespond to animations and/or providing visual and/or auditoryeffects, based on the manufacturer verification information, to thereceived image data, which is described further herein.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of the messageannotations 412, as described in FIG. 4 , including additionalinformation corresponding to verification metadata for verification of aphysical item (e.g., product), according to some embodiments. Inparticular, the additional information corresponds to extractedverification metadata as described before where the client device 102extracts such information from a given physical identification indicator(e.g., barcode, etc.) from captured image data including arepresentation of the physical identification indicator corresponding toa given physical item for verification.

In an embodiment, the content of a particular message 400 including theadditional data shown in FIG. 6 is used to populate the message table314 stored within the database 120 for a given message, which is thenaccessible by the product verification system 124, and/or the messagingclient application 104. As illustrated in an example embodiment, messageannotations 412 includes the following components corresponding to datafor a message for product verification:

-   -   A manufacturer identifier 802: identifier of a manufacturer        (e.g., name, brand, etc.) extracted from a physical        identification identifier from image data    -   A product identifier 804: identifier of a product (e.g., model        number, part number, etc.) extracted from the physical        identification identifier from the image data    -   an item unique identifier 806: unique identifier of the physical        item (e.g., a unique serial number, other metadata describing        unique details regarding the physical item such as how the        product was manufactured (e.g., using green or environmentally        friendly processes/techniques, percentage of the product that        utilizes recycled materials, etc.)

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of manufacturerverification metadata 900 stored in the manufacturer table 316, asdescribed in FIG. 3 , corresponding to manufacturing information forverification of a physical item (e.g., product), according to someembodiments.

In an embodiment, the data shown in FIG. 9 is used to populate themanufacturer table 316 stored within the database 120, which is thenaccessible by the product verification system 124, and/or the messagingclient application 104. As illustrated in an example embodiment, themanufacturer verification metadata 900 includes the following componentscorresponding to manufacturer data for product verification:

-   -   A manufacturer identifier 902: identifier of a manufacturer        (e.g., name, brand, etc.), which can be utilized to compare        against the manufacturer identifier 802 discussed in FIG. 8    -   A verification URL 904: an address (e.g., web address, server        address, network address, IP address, and the like) that is        utilized for verifying a physical item    -   Verification parameters 906: one or more parameters (e.g., a        product identifier, an item unique identifier, other types of        parameters such as location information or GPS signals if        permitted by a user) that are used in conjunction with the        verification URL 904 to verify a physical item

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of provenancemetadata 1000 stored in the database 620, as described in FIG. 6 ,corresponding to information indicating authenticity of a physical item(e.g., product), according to some embodiments.

In an embodiment, the data shown in FIG. 10 is used to populate thedatabase 620, which is then accessible by the product verificationsystem 124, and/or the messaging client application 104. As illustratedin an example embodiment, the provenance metadata 1000 includes thefollowing components corresponding to manufacturer data for productverification:

-   -   An endorsement 1002: an indication of a likelihood that the        physical item is authentic, and can be in a binary form or        encoding (e.g., “Yes”, “No”, “True”, “False”, “1”, “0”), or can        be provided as a score value indicating the likelihood that the        physical item is authentic (e.g., a value between 0 to 10, a        value between 0 to 100, etc.)    -   A manufacturer augmented reality URL 1004: an address (e.g., web        address, server address, network address, IP address, and the        like) that references media content related to the physical item        and/or including information regarding one or more media        overlays, filters, Lenses™, effects, etc., for display in        conjunction with the representation of the physical item from        captured image data    -   Provenance information 1006: information indicating historical        information related to ownership of the physical item (e.g.,        different names of owners, different ownership period of times        for the aforementioned owners, different locations where the        physical item was located during the ownership period of times,        etc.)

FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B illustrate examples of a user capturing an imageof a physical item to submit for verification in the messaging system100, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 11A illustrates an example situation in which a user 1102 iscapturing an image of a physical item in accordance with variousembodiments. Although only a portable client device (e.g., the clientdevice 102) is shown in FIG. 11A, it should be understood that varioustypes of electronic or computing devices are capable of capturing,receiving and/or processing images in accordance with variousembodiments discussed herein. These client devices can include, forexample desktop PCs, laptop computers, tablet computers, personal dataassistants (PDAs), smart phones, portable media file players, e-bookreaders, portable computers, head-mounted displays, interactive kiosks,mobile phones, net books, single-board computers (SBCs), embeddedcomputer systems, wearable computers (e.g., watches or glasses), gamingconsoles, home-theater PCs (HTPCs), TVs, DVD players, digital cableboxes, digital video recorders (DVRs), computer systems capable ofrunning a web-browser, or a combination of any two or more of these, andthe like.

The client device 102 may have at least one camera 1106. Each camera maybe, for example, a charge-coupled device (CCD), an active pixel sensorin complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) or N-typemetal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS), an infrared or ultrasonic imagesensor, or an image sensor utilizing other type of image capturingtechnologies.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 11A, the user 1102 can positionthe client device 102 such that one or more physical objects, includinga physical item 1112, are within a field of view 1108 of at least onecamera 1106 of the client device 102. The at least one camera 1106 cancapture a still image 154, such that a representation of the physicalitem 1112 with a representation of a physical identification indicator1154 are displayed on a display screen 1152 of the client device 102, asillustrated in the example of FIG. 11B. In some embodiments, the atleast one camera 1106 captures video, providing a “live” view of thecaptured video information. The image and/or a frame of the video can beanalyzed, such as by analyzing on the client device 102 and/or sendingacross a network (e.g., the network 106) to a server or service (e.g.,the messaging server system 108 and/or the image processing system 116)for analyzing image data.

The client device 102 can extract verification metadata (e.g., asdescribed before in FIG. 6 , FIG. 7 , and FIG. 8 ) based on therepresentation of the physical identification indicator 1154. The clientdevice 102 then sends the extracted verification metadata to the productverification system 124 to receive manufacturer verification metadata(e.g., as described before in FIG. 6 , FIG. 7 , and FIG. 9 ). Based atleast in part on the received manufacturer verification metadata, theclient device 102 can send a request to the manufacturer provenanceserver system 602 (e.g., as described before in FIG. 6 , FIG. 7 , andFIG. 10 ) for verifying the physical item and receive provenancemetadata indicating the authenticity of the physical item, among othertypes of information that may be included as discussed herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of providing a media overlay withinformation indicating verification or authenticity of the physical item1112 described in FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B.

As illustrated, the client device 102 can provide for display a mediaoverlay 1202, which may include visual and audio content 1204corresponding to animations, media content, text content, and the like.It is appreciated that the media overlay 1202 displayed by the clientdevice 102 can include audio and visual content and visual effects asdescribed before in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 . In an embodiment, the mediaoverlay 1202 can include, or be utilized in conjunction with, at leastone Lenses™ which is described further below.

As further illustrated, the client device 102 can provide for displaygraphical element 1220, graphical element 1225, and graphical element1230 (e.g., icons, images, graphical UI objects, and the like) thatrespectively correspond to an indication of authenticity, provenanceinformation, and manufacturing information. In an example, the user 1102can provide input to select graphical element 1225 to receive furtherinformation regarding provenance information related to a history ofrecorded ownership of the physical item 1112. As discussed elsewhereherein, information regarding names and/or titles of previous owners,respective time periods of ownership, respective locations, etc., can beprovided for display to further indicate authenticity of the physicalitem 1212, which may also be displayed in conjunction with the mediaoverlay 1202 in FIG. 12 . The user 1102 can also provide input to selectgraphical element 1230 to receive further information regardingmanufacturing information related to how the physical item 1112 wasmanufactured. Examples of manufacturing information can include mediacontent (e.g., videos, images, text, and the like) that is displayed bythe client device 102 to inform the user 1102, which may be provided inconjunction with the media overlay 1202 in FIG. 12 .

As described above, Lenses™ (e.g., “lens”) in accordance withembodiments described herein refer to modifications that may be made tovideos or images. This includes both real-time modification whichmodifies an image as it is captured using a device sensor and thendisplayed on a screen of the device with the modifications. This alsoincludes modifications to stored content, such as video clips in agallery that may be modified using Lenses™. For example, in a creatorprofile with multiple Lenses™, an authorized third-party account may usea single video clip with multiple Lenses™ to see how the differentLenses™ will modify the stored clip. Similarly, real-time video capturemay be used with an illustrated modification to show how video imagescurrently being captured by sensors of a device would modify thecaptured data. Such data may simply be displayed on the screen and notstored in memory, or the content captured by the device sensors may berecorded and stored in memory with or without the modifications (orboth).

Data and various systems to use Lenses™ and modify content using thisdata can thus involve detection of objects (e.g. faces, hands, bodies,cats, dogs, surfaces, objects, etc.), tracking of such objects as theyleave, enter, and move around the field of view in video frames, and themodification or transformation of such objects as they are tracked. Invarious embodiments, different methods for achieving suchtransformations may be used. For example, some embodiments may involvegenerating a three-dimensional mesh model of the object or objects, andusing transformations and animated textures of the model within thevideo to achieve the transformation. In other embodiments, tracking ofpoints on an object may be used to place an image or texture (which maybe two dimensional or three dimensional) at the tracked position. Instill further embodiments, neural network analysis of video frames maybe used to place images, models, or textures in content (e.g. images orframes of video). Lens data thus refers both to the images, models, andtextures used to create transformations in content, as well as toadditional modeling and analysis information needed to achieve suchtransformations with object detection, tracking, and placement.

Real time video processing can be performed with any kind of video data,(e.g. video streams, video files, etc.) saved in a memory of acomputerized system of any kind. For example, a user can load videofiles and save them in a memory of a device, or can generate a videostream using sensors of the device. Additionally, any objects can beprocessed using Lenses™, such as a human's face and parts of a humanbody, animals, or non-living things such as chairs, cars, or otherobjects.

In some embodiments, when a particular modification is selected alongwith content to be transformed, elements to be transformed areidentified by the computing device, and then detected and tracked ifthey are present in the frames of the video. The elements of the objectare modified according to the request for modification, thustransforming the frames of the video stream. Transformation of frames ofa video stream can be performed by different methods for different kindsof transformation. For example, for transformations of frames mostlyreferring to changing forms of object's elements characteristic pointsfor each of element of an object are calculated (e.g. using an ActiveShape Model (ASM) or other known methods). Then, a mesh based on thecharacteristic points is generated for each of the at least one elementof the object. This mesh used in the following stage of tracking theelements of the object in the video stream. In the process of tracking,the mentioned mesh for each element is aligned with a position of eachelement. Then, additional points are generated on the mesh. A first setof first points is generated for each element based on a request formodification, and a set of second points is generated for each elementbased on the set of first points and the request for modification. Then,the frames of the video stream can be transformed by modifying theelements of the object on the basis of the sets of first and secondpoints and the mesh. In such method a background of the modified objectcan be changed or distorted as well by tracking and modifying thebackground.

In one or more embodiments, transformations changing some areas of anobject using its elements can be performed by calculating ofcharacteristic points for each element of an object and generating amesh based on the calculated characteristic points. Points are generatedon the mesh, and then various areas based on the points are generated.The elements of the object are then tracked by aligning the area foreach element with a position for each of the at least one element, andproperties of the areas can be modified based on the request formodification, thus transforming the frames of the video stream.Depending on the specific request for modification properties of thementioned areas can be transformed in different ways. Such modificationsmay involve: changing color of areas; removing at least some part ofareas from the frames of the video stream; including one or more newobjects into areas which are based on a request for modification; andmodifying or distorting the elements of an area or object. In variousembodiments, any combination of such modifications or other similarmodifications may be used.

In some embodiments of Lenses™ using face detection, the face isdetected on an image with use of a specific face detection algorithm(e.g. Viola-Jones). Then, an Active Shape Model (ASM) algorithm isapplied to the face region of an image to detect facial featurereference points.

In other embodiments, other methods and algorithms suitable for facedetection can be used. For example, in some embodiments, features arelocated using a landmark which represents a distinguishable pointpresent in most of the images under consideration. For facial landmarks,for example, the location of the left eye pupil may be used. In aninitial landmark is not identifiable (e.g. if a person has an eyepatch),secondary landmarks may be used. Such landmark identification proceduresmay be used for any such objects. In some embodiments, a set oflandmarks forms a shape. Shapes can be represented as vectors using thecoordinates of the points in the shape. One shape is aligned to anotherwith a similarity transform (allowing translation, scaling, androtation) that minimizes the average Euclidean distance between shapepoints. The mean shape is the mean of the aligned training shapes.

In some embodiments, a search for landmarks from the mean shape alignedto the position and size of the face determined by a global facedetector is started. Such a search then repeats the steps of suggestinga tentative shape by adjusting the locations of shape points by templatematching of the image texture around each point and then conforming thetentative shape to a global shape model until convergence occurs. Insome systems, individual template matches are unreliable and the shapemodel pools the results of the weak template matchers to form a strongeroverall classifier. The entire search is repeated at each level in animage pyramid, from coarse to fine resolution.

Embodiments of a transformation system can capture an image or videostream on a client device and perform complex image manipulationslocally on a client device such as client device 102 while maintaining asuitable user experience, computation time, and power consumption. Thecomplex image manipulations may include size and shape changes, emotiontransfers (e.g., changing a face from a frown to a smile), statetransfers (e.g., aging a subject, reducing apparent age, changinggender), style transfers, graphical element application, and any othersuitable image or video manipulation implemented by a convolutionalneural network that has been configured to execute efficiently on aclient device.

In some example embodiments, Lenses™ may be used by a system where auser may capture an image or video stream of the user (e.g., a selfie)using a client device 102 having a neural network operating as part of amessaging client application 104 operating on the client device 102. Thetransform system operating within the messaging client application 104determines the presence of a face within the image or video stream andprovides modification icons associated with the Lenses™, or the Lenses™may be present as associated with an interface described herein. Themodification icons include changes which may be the basis for modifyingthe user's face within the image or video stream as part of themodification operation. Once a modification icon is selected, thetransform system initiates a process to convert the image of the user toreflect the selected modification icon (e.g., generate a smiling face onthe user). In some embodiments, a modified image or video stream may bepresented in a graphical user interface displayed on the mobile clientdevice as soon as the image or video stream is captured and a specifiedmodification is selected. The transform system may implement a complexconvolutional neural network on a portion of the image or video streamto generate and apply the selected modification. That is, the user maycapture the image or video stream and be presented with a modifiedresult in real time or near real time once a modification icon has beenselected. Further, the modification may be persistent while the videostream is being captured and the selected modification icon remainstoggled. Machine taught neural networks may be used to enable suchmodifications.

In some embodiments, the graphical user interface, presenting themodification performed by the transform system, may supply the user withadditional interaction options. Such options may be based on theinterface used to initiate the content capture and lens selection (e.g.initiation from a content creator user interface) In variousembodiments, a modification may be persistent after an initial selectionof a modification icon. The user may toggle the modification on or offby tapping or otherwise selecting the face being modified by thetransformation system. and store it for later viewing or browse to otherareas of the imaging application. Where multiple faces are modified bythe transformation system, the user may toggle the modification on oroff globally by tapping or selecting a single face modified anddisplayed within a graphical user interface. In some embodiments,individual faces, among a group of multiple faces, may be individuallymodified or such modifications may be individually toggled by tapping orselecting the individual face or a series of individual faces displayedwithin the graphical user interface.

FIG. 13 is an example side profile view of a 3D barcode 1300, accordingto some example embodiments. As discussed before, in some embodiments,the subject technology supports the utilization a 3D physical objectthat provide similar features as a 2D barcode (e.g., where informationis encoded with 2D patterns/or and other elements) for serving as aphysical identification indicator for a given physical item, which isreferred to herein as a “3D barcode”. It is appreciated that a 3Dbarcode as referred to herein does not refer to a QR code or 2D imagewith graphical patterns that mimic a 3D pattern.

A given manufacture of given physical item (e.g., the physical item1112) can create a 3D barcode for identifying the physical item, whichcan be created using any appropriate manufacturing process including,but not limited to, 3D printing, injection molding, CNC (computernumeric control) machining, plastic forming, plastic joining, lasersintering, stereolithography, binder jetting, poly-jet, fused depositionmodeling, and the like.

In an embodiment, the messaging client application 104, particularly theproduct verification module 704, recognizes a physical objectcorresponding to a 3D barcode from captured image data. Further, themessaging client application 104 can generate a 3D mesh as a digitalrepresentation of the 3D barcode.

In some software applications (e.g., computer vision or computergraphics), 3D physical objects or surfaces thereof are typicallydescribed or represented using models such as 3D meshes, which aresometimes called textured meshes or polygon meshes, that represent bothshapes and textures of such objects. In an example, a textured mesh ofan object includes two components: 1) a 3D representation of the objectdefined by vertices and/or edges of the object, and 2) polygonal shapesor faces that extend between such vertices and edges and represent atexture of the object. Thus, a textured mesh defines a volume and anappearance of the object that are utilized by various applications,including the messaging client application 104.

Generating a 3D model of an object (e.g., a textured mesh) from capturedimage data utilizes machine-driven modeling techniques to capturedigital imagery of the object and to generate a physical representationof the object. For example, a digital representation of the physicalobject may be defined by a set of points in 3D space, which may beobtained from a depth image of the object or other ranging data, or fromone or more two-dimensional (or 2D) images of the object, such as bymodeling the object using stereo or structure-from-motion (or SFM)algorithms. Using such data, a depth model, such as a point cloud, ofthe object may be defined for the object, including a set of points thatmay be described with respect to Cartesian coordinates. In an example, atextured mesh or other 3D model is generated for the object using avisual digital image and the depth model, such as by mapping or patchingportions or sectors of the visual digital image to the polygonal shapesdefined by the respective points of the depth model.

As illustrated in the 3D barcode 1300, a distance 1320 is between afirst vertex 1302 and a second vertex 1304, a distance 1322 is betweenthe second vertex 1304 and a third vertex 1306, a distance 1324 isbetween the third vertex 1308 to a fourth vertex 1310. A respective setof edges are included between each of the aforementioned vertexescorresponding to the one of the aforementioned distances. In anembodiment, verification metadata can be extracted based at least inpart on the respective edges between the respective vertices, whichrepresent an encoding of data. In an example, various values ofinformation (e.g., respective alphanumerical values) are based on thegeometry of the 3D barcode 1300 such as a height (e.g., y-axis value),length (e.g., x-axis value), etc. In some embodiments, depth values(e.g., z-axis value) may be utilized in determining verificationmetadata. In the example of FIG. 13 , the portion of the 3D barcode 1300within the distance 1320 includes respective values associated with amanufacturer ID, the portion of the 3D barcode 1300 with the distance1322 can include respective values associated with a product ID, and theportion of the 3D barcode 1300 within the distance 1324 and the distance1326 can include respective values associated with an item unique ID(e.g., serial number, manufacturing information unique to thisparticular physical item, etc.). It is appreciated, however, thatdifferent portions of the 3D barcode 1300, in some embodiments, can beassociated with different types of verification metadata and still bewithin the scope of the subject technology.

In an embodiment, the messaging client application 104 determineswhether the recognized object corresponds to a representation of athree-dimensional barcode, the representation of the three-dimensionalbarcode comprising a textured surface. The messaging client application104 analyzes the representation of the three-dimensional barcode torecognize a set of features corresponding to information for verifyingauthenticity of the physical item. The messaging client application 104transforms the set of features into a three-dimensional mesh, thethree-dimensional mesh including a set of vertices and a set of edges.Further, the messaging client application 104 extracts verificationmetadata from the three-dimensional mesh, the verification metadataincluding information for verifying whether the physical item is anauthentic item. The messaging client application 104 determines adistance between a first feature (e.g., a first respective vertex) and asecond feature (e.g., a second respective vertex) from thethree-dimensional mesh, the distance corresponding to an encoding ofverification metadata. Further, the messaging client application 104determines respective height values for the aforementioned featureswhich can represent various values from the encoding of verificationmetadata.

Although for the purposes of explanation, the side profile of the 3Dbarcode 1300 is illustrated in FIG. 13 , it is appreciated that capturedimage data can be of a different view or perspective of the 3D barcode1300. In an embodiment, the product verification module 704 (or anotherappropriate component of the messaging client application 104) canperform image processing operations to transform the image data to aside profile of the 3D barcode 1300. In an embodiment, theaforementioned transformation is not performed, and the messaging clientapplication 104 performs image analysis directly on the captured imagedata with the different perspective.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 to extractverification metadata from a physical identification indicator andobtain manufacturer verification information based on the extractedverification metadata, according to certain example embodiments. Themethod 1400 may be embodied in computer-readable instructions forexecution by one or more computer processors such that the operations ofthe method 1400 may be performed in part or in whole by the messagingclient application 104, particularly with respect to respectivecomponents of the annotation system 206 described above in FIG. 7 ;accordingly, the method 1400 is described below by way of example withreference thereto. However, it shall be appreciated that at least someof the operations of the method 1400 may be deployed on various otherhardware configurations and the method 1400 is not intended to belimited to the messaging client application 104.

At operation 1402, the image data receiving module 702 receives imagedata including a representation of a physical item data captured by anoptical sensor (e.g., camera) of the client device 102.

At operation 1404, the product verification module 704 analyzes theimage data to recognize an object corresponding to an identificationindicator of the physical item. In an embodiment, a recognitionoperation is performed to recognize the representation of the barcodeassociated with the physical item.

At operation 1406, the product verification module 704 determineswhether the identification indicator of the physical item includes arepresentation of a barcode. In an embodiment, the identificationindicator further includes a representation of a Universal Product Code(UPC) corresponding to the physical item.

At operation 1408, the product verification module 704 extractsverification metadata from the representation of the barcode, theverification metadata including information for verifying whether thephysical item is an authentic item. In an embodiment, extracting theverification metadata includes determining a manufacturer identifierassociated with representation of the barcode, determining a productidentifier associated with the representation of the barcode, anddetermining an item identifier associated with the representation of thebarcode.

At operation 1410, the product verification module 704 sends, to aserver (e.g., the product verification system 124), the verificationmetadata to determine manufacturer verification information associatedwith the verification metadata.

At operation 1412, the product verification module 704 receives, fromthe server, the manufacturer verification information. In an embodiment,the manufacturer verification information includes a verificationuniform resource locator (URL) and a set of verification parameters, theset of verification parameters including at least one of a respectiveproduct identifier, a respective item identifier, or locationinformation based at least in part on metadata associated with the imagedata or global positioning system (GPS) information.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1500 of requestingprovenance information based on manufacturer verification informationassociated with a given physical item, which may be performed inconjunction with the method 1400 in FIG. 14 , according to certainexample embodiments. The method 1500 may be embodied incomputer-readable instructions for execution by one or more computerprocessors such that the operations of the method 1500 may be performedin part or in whole by the messaging client application 104,particularly with respect to respective components of the annotationsystem 206 described above in FIG. 7 ; accordingly, the method 1500 isdescribed below by way of example with reference thereto. However, itshall be appreciated that at least some of the operations of the method1500 may be deployed on various other hardware configurations and themethod 1500 is not intended to be limited to the messaging clientapplication 104.

At operation 1502, the product verification module 704 sends, to asecond server (e.g., the manufacturer provenance server system 602), themanufacturer verification information and the verification metadata todetermine provenance information associated with the physical item, theprovenance information including at least information indicatingauthenticity of the physical item.

At operation 1504, the product verification module 704 receives, fromthe second server, the provenance information associated with thephysical item.

At operation 1506, the rendering module 706 causes display, at a clientdevice (e.g., the client device 102), of a media overlay including thephysical item based at least in part on the provenance information,wherein the media overlay includes an indication of authenticity of thephysical item. In an embodiment, the provenance information furtherincludes manufacturing information of the physical item, and therendering module 706 causes display, at the client device, of themanufacturing information based at least in part on the provenanceinformation, the manufacturing information including a uniform resourcelocator (URL) corresponding to media content associated with amanufacturing process of the physical item. In an embodiment, theprovenance information further includes historical information of thephysical item, and the rendering module 706 causes display, at theclient device, of the historical information, the historical informationincluding provenance metadata of the physical item, the provenancemetadata including a record of ownership of the physical item.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1600 of updating provenanceinformation associated with a given physical item, according to certainexample embodiments. The method 1600 may be embodied incomputer-readable instructions for execution by one or more computerprocessors such that the operations of the method 1600 may be performedin part or in whole by the messaging client application 104,particularly with respect to respective components of the annotationsystem 206 described above in FIG. 7 ; accordingly, the method 1600 isdescribed below by way of example with reference thereto. However, itshall be appreciated that at least some of the operations of the method1600 may be deployed on various other hardware configurations and themethod 1600 is not intended to be limited to the messaging clientapplication 104.

In some instances, a user may wish to update provenance informationassociated with a given physical item. For example, when the physicalitem is purchased a new owner, provenance information for the physicalitem can be updated to keep information related to the physical itemcurrent with the latest transaction. In particular, information relatedto the new owner, new location of the physical item, etc., can beuploaded to the manufacturer provenance server system 602 in accordanceto the example described in FIG. 16 .

At operation 1602, the product verification module 704 sends, to asecond server (e.g., the manufacturer provenance server system 602),information for updating provenance information of a physical item. Atthe manufacturer provenance server system 602, the database 620 can beupdated with the updated provenance information from the productverification module 704 (e.g., by inserting a new row in the appropriatetable associated with the particular physical item).

At operation 1604, the product verification module 704 receives, fromthe second server, an indication that the provenance information hasbeen updated for the physical item. In an example, confirmation of theupdate of the provenance information can result in the client device 102causing display of a particular media overlay indicating the provenanceinformation was updated.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture1706, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described. FIG. 17 is a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 1706 may execute on hardwaresuch as machine 1800 of FIG. 18 that includes, among other things,processors 1804, memory 1814, and (input/output) I/O components 1818. Arepresentative hardware layer 1752 is illustrated and can represent, forexample, the machine 1800 of FIG. 18 . The representative hardware layer1752 includes a processing unit 1754 having associated executableinstructions 1704. Executable instructions 1704 represent the executableinstructions of the software architecture 1706, including implementationof the methods, components, and so forth described herein. The hardwarelayer 1752 also includes memory and/or storage modules memory/storage1756, which also have executable instructions 1704. The hardware layer1752 may also comprise other hardware 1758.

In the example architecture of FIG. 17 , the software architecture 1706may be conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 1706may include layers such as an operating system 1702, libraries 1720,frameworks/middleware 1718, applications 1716, and a presentation layer1714. Operationally, the applications 1716 and/or other componentswithin the layers may invoke API calls 1708 through the software stackand receive a response as in response to the API calls 1708. The layersillustrated are representative in nature and not all softwarearchitectures have all layers. For example, some mobile or specialpurpose operating systems may not provide a frameworks/middleware 1718,while others may provide such a layer. Other software architectures mayinclude additional or different layers.

The operating system 1702 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 1702 may include, for example, akernel 1722, services 1724, and drivers 1726. The kernel 1722 may act asan abstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 1722 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 1724 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 1726are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlyinghardware. For instance, the drivers 1726 include display drivers, cameradrivers, Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communicationdrivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers,audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth depending on thehardware configuration.

The libraries 1720 provide a common infrastructure that is used by theapplications 1716 and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries1720 provide functionality that allows other software components toperform tasks in an easier fashion than to interface directly with theunderlying operating system 1702 functionality (e.g., kernel 1722,services 1724 and/or drivers 1726). The libraries 1720 may includesystem libraries 1744 (e.g., C standard library) that may providefunctions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulationfunctions, mathematical functions, and the like. In addition, thelibraries 1720 may include API libraries 1746 such as media libraries(e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of variousmedia format such as MPREG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphicslibraries (e.g., an OpenGL framework that may be used to render 2D and3D in a graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLitethat may provide various relational database functions), web libraries(e.g., WebKit that may provide web browsing functionality), and thelike. The libraries 1720 may also include a wide variety of otherlibraries 1748 to provide many other APIs to the applications 1716 andother software components/modules.

The frameworks/middleware 1718 (also sometimes referred to asmiddleware) provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may beused by the applications 1716 and/or other software components/modules.For example, the frameworks/middleware 1718 may provide various graphicuser interface (GUI) functions, high-level resource management,high-level location services, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware1718 may provide a broad spectrum of other APIs that may be used by theapplications 1716 and/or other software components/modules, some ofwhich may be specific to a particular operating system 1702 or platform.

The applications 1716 include built-in applications 1738 and/orthird-party applications 1740. Examples of representative built-inapplications 1738 may include, but are not limited to, a contactsapplication, a browser application, a book reader application, alocation application, a media application, a messaging application,and/or a game application. Third-party applications 1740 may include anapplication developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform,and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asIOS™ ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Thethird-party applications 1740 may invoke the API calls 1708 provided bythe mobile operating system (such as operating system 1702) tofacilitate functionality described herein.

The applications 1716 may use built in operating system functions (e.g.,kernel 1722, services 1724 and/or drivers 1726), libraries 1720, andframeworks/middleware 1718 to create user interfaces to interact withusers of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systemsinteractions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such aspresentation layer 1714. In these systems, the application/component“logic” can be separated from the aspects of the application/componentthat interact with a user.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 1800,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 18 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine1800 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions1810 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 1800 to perform any oneor more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such,the instructions 1810 may be used to implement modules or componentsdescribed herein. The instructions 1810 transform the general,non-programmed machine 1800 into a particular machine 1800 programmed tocarry out the described and illustrated functions in the mannerdescribed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 1800 operates as astandalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine 1800 may operate in the capacityof a server machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 1800 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, acellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device(e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 1810, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by machine 1800. Further, while only a single machine 1800 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 1810 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

The machine 1800 may include processors 1804, memory/storage 1806, andI/O components 1818, which may be configured to communicate with eachother such as via a bus 1802. The memory/storage 1806 may include amemory 1814, such as a main memory, or other memory storage, and astorage unit 1816, both accessible to the processors 1804 such as viathe bus 1802. The storage unit 1816 and memory 1814 store theinstructions 1810 embodying any one or more of the methodologies orfunctions described herein. The instructions 1810 may also reside,completely or partially, within the memory 1814, within the storage unit1816, within at least one of the processors 1804 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, duringexecution thereof by the machine 1800. Accordingly, the memory 1814, thestorage unit 1816, and the memory of processors 1804 are examples ofmachine-readable media.

The I/O components 1818 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 1818 that are included in a particular machine 1800 willdepend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such asmobile phones will likely include a touch input device or other suchinput mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely notinclude such a touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/Ocomponents 1818 may include many other components that are not shown inFIG. 18 . The I/O components 1818 are grouped according to functionalitymerely for simplifying the following discussion and the grouping is inno way limiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 1818may include output components 1826 and input components 1828. The outputcomponents 1826 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 1828 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 1818 may includebiometric components 1830, motion components 1834, environmentalcomponents 1836, or position components 1838 among a wide array of othercomponents. For example, the biometric components 1830 may includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 1834 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 1836 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometer that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 1838 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a GPS receiver component),altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detectair pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensorcomponents (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 1818 may include communication components 1840operable to couple the machine 1800 to a network 1832 or devices 1820via coupling 1824 and coupling 1822, respectively. For example, thecommunication components 1840 may include a network interface componentor other suitable device to interface with the network 1832. In furtherexamples, communication components 1840 may include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 1520 may be another machine or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB).

Moreover, the communication components 1540 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 1540 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components1540, such as, location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location,location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFCbeacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: transforming a set offeatures into a three-dimensional mesh, the three-dimensional meshincluding a set of vertices and a set of edges, wherein the set offeatures are determined based on analyzing a representation of athree-dimensional barcode; extracting verification metadata from thethree-dimensional mesh, the verification metadata including informationfor verifying whether a physical item is an authentic item; receivingmanufacturer verification information based at least in part on theverification metadata; receiving provenance information associated withthe physical item based at least in part on the manufacturerverification information and the verification metadata; and causingdisplay of a media overlay including the physical item based at least inpart on the provenance information, wherein the media overlay includesan indication of authenticity of the physical item.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein extracting verification metadata from thethree-dimensional mesh further comprises: determining a distance betweena first feature and a second feature from the three-dimensional mesh,the distance corresponding to an encoding of verification metadata. 3.The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending the verificationmetadata to determine manufacturer verification information associatedwith the verification metadata.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: sending the manufacturer verification information and theverification metadata to determine provenance information associatedwith the physical item, the provenance information including at leastinformation indicating authenticity of the physical item.
 5. The methodof claim 4, wherein the provenance information further includesmanufacturing information of the physical item, and further comprising:causing display of the manufacturing information based at least in parton the provenance information.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein theprovenance information further includes historical information of thephysical item, and further comprising: causing display of the historicalinformation, the historical information comprising provenance metadataof the physical item, the provenance metadata including a record ofownership of the physical item.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein themanufacturer verification information includes a verification uniformresource locator (URL) and a set of verification parameters, the set ofverification parameters including at least one of a respective productidentifier, a respective item identifier, or location information basedat least in part on metadata associated with image data or globalpositioning system (GPS) information.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: analyzing image data to recognize an object corresponding toan identification indicator of a physical item; and determining whetherthe identification indicator of the physical item includes arepresentation of a barcode.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: in response to determining that the identification indicatorof the physical item includes the representation of the barcode,extracting verification metadata from the representation of the barcode,the verification metadata including information for verifying whetherthe physical item is an authentic item, wherein extracting theverification metadata further comprises: determining a manufactureridentifier associated with representation of the barcode, determining aproduct identifier associated with the representation of the barcode,and determining an item identifier associated with the representation ofthe barcode; and sending, to a server, the verification metadata todetermine manufacturer verification information associated with theverification metadata; and receiving, from the server, the manufacturerverification information.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:prior to analyzing the representation of the three-dimensional barcode,analyzing image data to recognize an object corresponding to anidentification indicator of a physical item; and determining whether therecognized object corresponds to the representation of thethree-dimensional barcode, the representation of the three-dimensionalbarcode comprising a textured surface.
 11. A system comprising: aprocessor; a memory including instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:transforming a set of features into a three-dimensional mesh, thethree-dimensional mesh including a set of vertices and a set of edges,wherein the set of features are determined based on analyzing arepresentation of a three-dimensional barcode; extracting verificationmetadata from the three-dimensional mesh, the verification metadataincluding information for verifying whether a physical item is anauthentic item; receiving manufacturer verification information based atleast in part on the verification metadata; receiving provenanceinformation associated with the physical item based at least in part onthe manufacturer verification information and the verification metadata;and causing display of a media overlay including the physical item basedat least in part on the provenance information, wherein the mediaoverlay includes an indication of authenticity of the physical item. 12.The system of claim 11, wherein extracting verification metadata fromthe three-dimensional mesh further comprises: determining a distancebetween a first feature and a second feature from the three-dimensionalmesh, the distance corresponding to an encoding of verificationmetadata.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations furthercomprise: sending the verification metadata to determine manufacturerverification information associated with the verification metadata. 14.The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise: sendingthe manufacturer verification information and the verification metadatato determine provenance information associated with the physical item,the provenance information including at least information indicatingauthenticity of the physical item.
 15. The system of claim 14, whereinthe provenance information further includes manufacturing information ofthe physical item, and wherein the operations further comprise: causingdisplay of the manufacturing information based at least in part on theprovenance information.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein theprovenance information further includes historical information of thephysical item, and wherein the operations further comprise: causingdisplay of the historical information, the historical informationcomprising provenance metadata of the physical item, the provenancemetadata including a record of ownership of the physical item.
 17. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the manufacturer verification informationincludes a verification uniform resource locator (URL) and a set ofverification parameters, the set of verification parameters including atleast one of a respective product identifier, a respective itemidentifier, or location information based at least in part on metadataassociated with image data or global positioning system (GPS)information.
 18. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations furthercomprise: analyzing image data to recognize an object corresponding toan identification indicator of a physical item; and determining whetherthe identification indicator of the physical item includes arepresentation of a barcode.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein theoperations further comprise: prior to analyzing the representation ofthe three-dimensional barcode, analyzing image data to recognize anobject corresponding to an identification indicator of a physical item;and determining whether the recognized object corresponds to therepresentation of the three-dimensional barcode, the representation ofthe three-dimensional barcode comprising a textured surface.
 20. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions, whichwhen executed by a computing device, cause the computing device toperform operations comprising: transforming a set of features into athree-dimensional mesh, the three-dimensional mesh including a set ofvertices and a set of edges, wherein the set of features are determinedbased on analyzing a representation of a three-dimensional barcode;extracting verification metadata from the three-dimensional mesh, theverification metadata including information for verifying whether aphysical item is an authentic item; receiving manufacturer verificationinformation based at least in part on the verification metadata;receiving provenance information associated with the physical item basedat least in part on the manufacturer verification information and theverification metadata; and causing display of a media overlay includingthe physical item based at least in part on the provenance information,wherein the media overlay includes an indication of authenticity of thephysical item.